Army facing acquisition workforce crisis

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Half of the Army's civilian acquisition workforce is expected to retire within seven years, but a plan is in the works to address the "crisis," according to the Army's top acquisition official.

Claude Bolton Jr., assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said the majority of the Army's acquisition workforce is composed of civilians, more than half of which will be eligible to retire by 2005 "and within the next seven years, half of them will."

Speaking Sept. 4 at an Association of the United States Army conference in Falls Church, Va., Bolton said that his military deputy, Lt. Gen. John Caldwell Jr., s in charge of developing a "campaign plan" to address the crisis.

"I hope it's ready for me to take a look at this month or the first part of next month," Bolton told Federal Computer Week. He added that he has not asked to, or seen, a draft of the plan because it is "still a work in progress."